I’M HERE FOR YOU
We all get stuck sometimes. Past traumas can prevent us from feeling present. We might sense energy in our body isn’t flowing easily. Our minds can get fixed on perspectives that no longer seem beneficial. My purpose is to help you flow, to lighten your load, and to help you open doors inside you that don’t need to be closed so you can remember who you authentically are.
I speak from experience. I, personally, have turned to Somatic Experiencing, Yoga Therapy, Reiki, Yin Yoga, Mindful Self-Compassion, and Touch-for-Trauma to help me through blockages and patterns in my life. I have so much gratitude for my teachers who have helped me learn these practices as they’ve greatly improved my life. These modalities work and I am eager to share them with you.
I was a sensitive, empathic, and spiritual child who grew up in a very headstrong family that often spoke with sharp criticisms and sarcastic judgements. Ouch! From a young age I forged a very different path for myself than the one I was given. I value the practice of quieting the mind and listening to the heart and the body. I value self-care, which includes time in nature, breath work and meditation. I have come to understand the power of words, deep listening, and tone of voice. Our words carry energy and build our universe; I care about the words I use and I am listening to yours with interest and compassion. I value the practice of self-regulation – how to find our way back to a calm center when things are challenging in the world.
I am honored to work closely with a group of female doctors from around the US.
Barbara Kaplan, RYT500 and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner has been studying yoga and meditation since she was 14 years old. In 1991 she received her Teacher Training certificate from The Yoga Room in Berkeley and was certified as a Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapist. She also completed Erich Schiffmann's Advanced Teacher Training program, studied with the Iyengars in India, and has sat a total of over 200 days in silent Vipassana retreats.
Barbara attended Vassar College and graduated from UC Berkeley. She studied Somatic Psychology as a graduate student at JFK University, was in the Diamond Heart/Ridhwan School for 16 years, and is an ongoing student at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. She is a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, a Touch Skills Therapist, and a hospice volunteer. She has taught in Peru, Burma, Nepal, India, and Mexico over the years. She currently assists ongoing Somatic Experiencing and Full Embodiment trainings. She did the teacher training for Mindful Self-Compassion with Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer in Los Angeles and co-teaches Mindful Self-Compassion Workshops. She studied Intuition with both Tina Zion and Francesca McCartney and completed two in-depth trainings on Somatic Body Wisdom to address anxiety, overwhelm, and reactivated trauma with Suzanne Scurlock. She is also a Reiki Master Practitioner and Teacher.
Barbara wrote the Beginners Column in Yoga Journal, published feature articles on the Chakras and “Yoga for Good Digestion,” and appeared in three Yoga Journal calendars. Since 2020 she has taught ongoing monthly Zoom classes to groups of female physicians about nervous system regulation and self-compassion through pinkcoatmd.com.
Besides teaching yoga and seeing students one-to-one to work therapeutically, Barbara is ordained and enjoys officiating ceremonies. She teaches self-care and practices it too, taking time each week to explore nature, pay attention to the nurturing her body needs, and she listens to comedy. She lives with her partner of ten years in the East Bay.
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Somatic Experiencing || Somatic means "of the body"
Created by Peter Levine, PhD, this body-oriented therapy works on the principle that trauma and stress get trapped in the body. Sustained healing happens when our nervous system regains balance and we reprogram the body’s primitive survival instincts so we can feel more connection, ease, and safety in the body.
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Touch-for-Trauma
For decades my yoga classes and somatic sessions have been places of love and healing. I felt like a missing piece was being able to transmit more positive energy to clients through my hands.
Gratefully, in 2019 I graduated from Kathy Kain’s Touch-for-Trauma course which brought more education and sensitivity to my hands. Now I bring a co-regulating touch to clients, specifically to organs. For instance, holding the kidney/adrenal area with presence helps clients downshift from anxiety to a more relaxed, embodied state. Combined with yogic breathwork clients can move out of the fight/flight mode to being able to feel more grounded and centered. Similarly, compassionate hands on the liver or around the brain stem help the body release into greater homeostasis, and then the mind gets to follow. So often we are top-down creatures leading with the head, but in my practice we explore the power of sensing the body and witnessing how that changes the mind.
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Reiki
Reiki is a Japanese technique for relaxation and stress relief that promotes the body's natural ability to experience well-being. Everyday stressors can bring blockages to the flow of our energy, and Reiki helps restore energy flow to its optimum state which supports the body to return to equanimity.
In my sessions, I like to combine Touch-for-Trauma and Reiki to bring the highest benefits to clients.
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Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC)
I had to good fortune to study MSC in-person with the founders Kristen Neff and Chris Germer. Most people are great at giving compassion to a friend in difficulty, but treating ourselves with love and care can feel quite foreign. I interweave wonderful practices and meditations into sessions to help client's hearts open to themselves with kindness that lasts.
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Yoga
I have a passion for helping people live more comfortably in their bodies. I guide them to feel grounded, powerful, loving, and compassionate, especially towards themselves.
My safe, nurturing yoga sessions invite clients to relax deeply, learn how to listen to the body's wisdom, and vitally reconnect with one's center.
